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Climate change

What does climate change mean for business? On this page you can access a range of articles, research and guidance on topics including reporting on climate, climate risk in financial services and incorporating climate change into corporate decision making.

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Featured article

"Risk Thinking" in an unstable world
Businesses are being asked to measure their financial risk of climate-related change. But no one seems to know how.

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Featured link

2021 Climate check: Business' views on environmental sustainability
Deloitte, 2021
Report evaluating business responses to climate change issues, in the context of the coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn. 

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People and planet in the accounts
A series of Insights articles focusing on how nature and society might be included in financial statements. 

Reporting on climate change
An overview of current UK reporting guidance from the ICAEW Corporate Reporting Faculty. 

Sustainability & Climate Change Community
The Community provides an e-newsletter, on-demand webinars, case studies and thought leadership guidance.

 

eBooks

The Library provides full text access to a selection of key business and reference eBooks from leading publishers. eBooks are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users. If you are unable to access an eBook, please see our Help and support advice or contact library@icaew.com.

Stress testing for banks

An in-depth discussion of financial impact assessment of various climate risk-driven scenarios (climate risk stress testing).

Climate risk: Macro perspective

A chapter giving background information and definitions for climate change, as well as an overview of the regulatory response to climate change, climate change modelling, carbon risk and carbon pricing and climate risk in investment practice.

Six Capitals: capitalism, climate change and the accounting revolution that can save the planet

Six Capitals charts the rise of four movements: multi-capital accounting, for society, nature and profit; the push for a new type of corporation legally bound to benefit nature and society while making a profit; ecosystem accounting for nations; and legal rights for nature.

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Terms of use: You are permitted to access, download, copy, or print out content from eBooks for your own research or study only, subject to the Acceptable usage terms.

Online articles

The Library provides access to leading business, finance and management journals. These journals are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users subject to suppliers' terms of use. 

One investor's uphill battle to turn rewilding Into a multi-billion dollar industry

On a remote peninsular of Scotland, there's an experiment underway to profit from nature restoration - the aim is to rewild the native landscape and turn it into a natural capital asset. Jeremy Leggett, CEO of Highlands Rewilding, acknowledges its business model is 'a punt' on governments implementing legislation needed to reach their net zero and nature protection targets. The entrepreneur joins a growing body of environmentally-minded business people buying estates in Scotland to profit from the so-called natural capital generated from rewilding projects.

Extreme weather is changing tourism. The travel industry isn't ready.

It looks likely that southern Europe will need to adapt quickly to increasingly hot summers - which may be a blow to Europe's tourism industry. Though Europe's tourism sector is predicted to grow at an average annual rate of 3.3% up to 2032, increasingly frequent extreme weather in southern Europe may attract travellers to alternative destinations in northern Europe.

Accounting for carbon - reporting principles to improve carbon trading

The article presents an accurate and auditable accounting framework based on five accounting principles. The first two define what can and cannot be counted as an offset and what may or may not be traded. The remaining principles propose basic accounting guidelines for offsets, with the aim of creating a robust market for mitigating climate change.

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Articles are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users.

Useful links 

Organisations

Carbon Trust
Organisation supporting businesses and the public sector to cut carbon emissions, save energy and commercialise low carbon technologies. The website gives information on climate change legislation, emerging technologies and guides.

Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB)
International consortium of business and environmental NGOs. Offers companies a framework for reporting environmental information and natural capital in mainstream reports such as the annual report, 10-K filing or integrated report.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
United Nations body responsible for assessing the science related to climate change. The IPCC provides regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation. 

Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
The Financial Stability Board established the TCFD to develop recommendations for more effective climate-related disclosures. The Task Force has 32 international members, including providers
of capital, insurers, large non-financial companies, accounting and consulting firms, and credit rating agencies.

Reports, surveys and guidance

Accounting for climate
Guidance issued by the Climate Disclosure Standards Board in December 2020, to support preparers in integrating climate-related matters into financial statements. 

Climate resilience perspectives
Latest insights into climate change and sustainability, including the implications for boards, from professional services firm Marsh & McLennan.

EY Global Climate Risk Barometer 2021
A snapshot of climate risk reporting disclosures from over 1,100 companies across sectors in 42 countries. The report provides an overview of the current state of global climate risk reporting and suggests areas of improvement. 

FRC Thematic review of TCFD disclosures and climate in the financial statements
A FRC July 2022 report setting out the results of a review of the TCFD disclosures and climate-related reporting in the financial statements of 25 premium listed companies. Recommendations are made for areas where companies need to raise the quality of their disclosures.

FRC staff factsheet - Climate-related matters
A November 2021 factsheet, intended to inform preparers of annual reports under FRS 102 of climate-related matters they may need to consider when preparing financial statements and associated narrative reporting. 

Greening finance: A roadmap to sustainable investing
A HM Treasury policy paper setting out the government's ambition to green the financial system, starting by ensuring that the right information exists to enable every financial decision to factor in climate change and the environment. Published October 2021.

How to anticipate a Green Swan event
This Carbon Trust October 2020 report looks at climate transition risk as it relates to Chinese financial institutions and includes an in-depth review of methodologies used to understand climate risk in portfolios. 

Interim report of the UK's Joint Government Regulator TCFD Taskforce
November 2020 report – and accompanying roadmap – outlining the UK’s approach to implementing the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. The Government intends to introduce fully mandatory climate-related financial disclosure requirements across the UK economy.

TCFD Knowledge hub
Resources from the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), including industry reports, case studies and online courses.

Articles and books in the Library collection

Selected articles and books

Click on the links below for more information on these titles.

Filling the gaps
(Governance and compliance: the ICSA Magazine, December 2019/January 2020)
The challenge of climate change has gained a lot of prominence over the past few years, and it is clear that investors and companies are increasingly seen as part of the solution. Climate change requires companies to look to the future, which can be difficult when there is so much uncertainty. In this context, it can be difficult to work out what to report.

Climate change: time to improve your disclosure?
(FS Focus, May 2018)
This article discusses "the who, what and where of new recommendations for climate-related financial disclosures".

Corporate carbon and climate accounting
(Springer, 2015)
Discusses management accounting approaches for analysing business benefits and costs of climate change. Covers future directions on carbon accounting and performance measurement and reporting. Also looks at links between climate accounting and business processes, product and service development, supply chain innovation, economic successes and stakeholder relations.

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